US citizen found hanged in Egypt prison

James Lunn allegedly hanged himself with his shoe-lace in an Ismailiya jail, six weeks after being arrested.

A US citizen was found dead in an Egyptian prison in an apparent suicide six weeks after he was arrested for breaking a curfew, security sources said.

James Henry Lunn had been held at Ismailiya, northeast of Cairo, since his arrest on August 28 near the border with the Gaza Strip.

A US embassy official said a US citizen had died as the result of an apparent suicide at the Ismailiya prison Egyptian authorities made no immediate comment.

The US State Department issued a statement confirming Lunn's death and said it had contacted his family and was providing consular assistance, including helping repatriate his remains and protecting his personal property.

Lunn was arrested in the town of Sheikh Zwayed in North Sinai for breaking a dusk-to-dawn curfew imposed amid clashes between security forces and supporters of the deposed president, Mohamed Morsi.

Security sources had said he was on his way to Gaza at the time of his arrest. Lunn's detention had been extended by 30 days on Saturday.

The State Department said it was first informed of Lunn's case on August 28, a day after his arrest, and had been in regular contact with him and with Egyptian authorities.

An Egyptian security source told the Reuters news agency that Lunn had used his shoe laces to commit suicide. A post-mortem examination was being conducted.

In September, a Frenchman accused of breaking the curfew was beaten to death by fellow detainees in Cairo, security sources said.

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